I have 1060 feet in a basement to drywall. I'm thinking of hanging the drywall myself and hiring a pro to finish it. I 'm planning on using 1/2 inch 4x8 sheets. i must admit that i am a bit intimidated considering the size of the job. one quote said that i need 105 4x8 sheets but that guy was going to charge me 300 bucks just to bring it in my basement, menards will do it for 1 dollar extra a sheet for basement delivery. bu that guy also quoted me 41 dollars per sheet to install and finish. seemed kind of expensive to me.

a few questions,

how many scews per sheet of drywall and what pattern should the screws be scewed in?

should i also glue the ceiling drywall? what kind of glue?

can i buy the drywall at home depot, menards, lowes? they seem much cheaper then all the building supply companies i've been calling.

i've been doing a bit of reasearch on how to hang drywall and have come up with the following.

Get a lift?? This poses a problem considering that it will probably take me a long time to do this mainly by myself. I don't want to pay 30-40 a day.

Don't butt drywall cracks/seams around the doors cause they have a tendencey to crack. Instead lay the sheet over the door, install it, then cut the door area out.

Any more?? All help is appreciated!

Thanks,

penticton

03-11-2009 01:39 PM

Our building code requires 5/8 drywall on basement ceiling. It would act as a fire guard
The drywall lift is the best tool around for drywalling the ceiling , and if you were organized and maybe had a helper, you could do the ceiling in one day

47_47

03-11-2009 01:47 PM

Just a couple of questions...

How do you go from 1060 feet to 105) 4x8 sheets (3360 ft²)?

Do you realize that each sheet will weigh approx 55 lbs each?

Do you have the room to have all of this drywall delivered, stored in the basement and not moving it a few times?

Can't comment on the price, but does the $41.00 per sheet include all of the materials (drywall, screws, corner beads, tape, compounds, painted and primed...) delivered and the removal of the debris?

phospher

03-11-2009 02:04 PM

1060 sq feet is the floor space. so i guess that doesn't count the walls. the main room i plan to sore the drywall in is 700 sq foot and wide open so it should be able to hold a good amount.

yes, i realize 55lbs a sheet. that is why i'm going to have it delivered to my basement. i will have a helper for the ceilings. i might just try and find a cheap used lift to buy.

the 41 dollars a sheet did NOT include the price of drywall but it did include everything else.

jerryh3

03-11-2009 02:48 PM

Where are you located?

phospher

03-11-2009 03:05 PM

Milwaukee, Wi

AtlanticWBConst.

03-11-2009 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penticton
(Post 243194)

Our building code requires 5/8 drywall on basement ceiling. It would act as a fire guard
....

Depends on region. FWIW - No such code in my region for single family dwellings.

AtlanticWBConst.

03-11-2009 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phospher
(Post 243206)

1060 sq feet is the floor space. so i guess that doesn't count the walls. the main room i plan to sore the drywall in is 700 sq foot and wide open so it should be able to hold a good amount.

yes, i realize 55lbs a sheet. that is why i'm going to have it delivered to my basement. i will have a helper for the ceilings. i might just try and find a cheap used lift to buy.

the 41 dollars a sheet did NOT include the price of drywall but it did include everything else.

$41.00 a sheet without the sheetrock is high in any area. Should be closer to $30.00 - $32.00 per sheet WITH all materials included (Even less in some regions). Maybe another $200 to load the sheetrock into the job.

47_47

03-11-2009 03:46 PM

Here's a link to drywall installation and finishing. It answers most of your questions and also allows you to calculate the screws, tape and mud.

I am not trying to be difficult, but usually if you hang the rock, you will pay almost as much to get it just taped as paying someone to hang and finish.

phospher

03-11-2009 05:37 PM

thanks for that link. why would it not save much money? i would think that would.

AtlanticWBConst.

03-11-2009 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 47_47
(Post 243248)

....I am not trying to be difficult, but usually if you hang the rock, you will pay almost as much to get it just taped as paying someone to hang and finish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phospher
(Post 243275)

....why would it not save much money? i would think that would.

He's right. I would suggest that you get some prices and look into that.

The pros can whip up the sheetrock in no time. I had a crew of 6 guys once, that put up 60 sheets in a basement in 2-1/2 hours.

It's the taping, coating, and sanding that is very labor intensive and time consuming. That is where the major portion of the costs are.

marlinpuppy

03-11-2009 08:36 PM

I agree with Atlantic. Seen a crew come into a new construction home of about 6,000 square feet with several angles and rounded walls and they had all the ceiling and walls hung, mess cleaned up, and the first coat of mud done in two days. These guys were so amazing...made their cuts without the aid of t-squares, straight edges, ect. I would get a few quotes and references.

bjbatlanta

03-12-2009 02:02 PM

A professional drywall contractor will get the necessary length boards (8', 10', 12', 14') so as to minimize the number of joints. Using all 8' boards will make for a lot of extra and unnecessary work finishing. Hence it will cost you more to finish, and justifiably so. Two professional hangers could hang this in 2 days and the finishing would be about a week with drying time. (I usually allow an extra day between bed and skim coat to be sure everything is dry.) And that's if it's pretty straightforward (not really cut up with lots of small rooms, lots of soffits,etc.). Depending on the particular job, $42.00 may not be out of line. I'd have to see it........

jogr

03-12-2009 02:43 PM

phospher, Like the others said you often don't save anything hanging the rock yourself. Tapers usually charge more for jobs that an amateur hanger did because it takes them longer to deal with problems they don't get with a pro job.

My advice is find a couple really good tapers and get their bid on an owner hung job. Once they give you the bid ask what the total bid would be if they hung the rock (or had their normal hanger do it siince a lot of good tapers only tape and have someone else hang).

That way you can really see if you'll save anything. And whatever you do don't select the taper by price. Pick your taper by examining the quality of their work and their customer service. The small price difference won't matter nearly as much as how it looks when they're done.

plunkinberry

03-12-2009 02:47 PM

Depending on how old you are (no offense meant) and how strong you are, I regularly hang drywall on 8' ceilings by hand. Another thing I've done is set up low walk planking - I have a set of 18" sawhorses that I just put planking across and do it that way, but for ceilings, you need 2 relatively strong people. I've seen pros do it by themselves, but I'm not that good...

Drywall is an aquired skill. Almost anyone can hang it - just attach using screws. Finishing is a time-consuming and dirty job. If your time is free and you are willing to learn, I would definitely recommend just tackling the job yourself. But, if you (or your wife) is very critical of a self done job, you can hire out the finishing. Professional finishers, that do it everyday, are very good and very fast.

Since I don't do it every day, I'm not professional level, but I'm willing to take the extra time to do it right. To keep the mess down, just scrape the high spots off after the first coat and apply the second then wet sand with a bucket and sponge the second coat. After the second coat, dry sand and spot apply a third coat as needed. If you are new, repeat the dry sand and add a fourth coat. Resist the urge to sand off too much. Get a light so that you can see the shadow lines that WILL pop out once paint has been applied.